You’ve probably spent weeks building something you thought would change the world, only to launch it to crickets. We’ve all been there, obsessing over market fit and “revolutionary” features. But what if the projects that actually earn respect aren’t the ones solving world hunger?
Recently, a developer on Hacker News asked the community a simple question: “What projects have you finished that made you think that you actually made something really cool?” They were explicitly looking for “revolutionary” tools and repos.
But look at the answers that floated to the top. One was SynapsCLI, a lightweight embeddable agent runtime written in Rust. The other was “snibble,” an aggressively over-engineered word game.
No billion-dollar unicorns. No paradigm-shifting SaaS platforms. Just a niche runtime and a word game built with unnecessary complexity.
The code doesn’t prove you’re a competent engineer; the weirdness proves you’re a passionate one.
This is the dirty secret of developer culture. We say we want to see revolutionary technology, but what we actually crave is authentic expression. When someone shares an over-engineered word game, they aren’t showing off their technical chops—they are exposing their taste, their sense of humor, and their struggles. They are saying, “I built this because I couldn’t help myself.”
The real filter for respect in the tech community isn’t skill. It’s vulnerability. Sharing a project is an act of self-exposure. The most upvoted answers are the ones that let us validate the creator’s identity, not just their architecture. We upvote the projects that feel deeply, irrationally personal.
For makers, this completely reframes what it means to build something worthwhile. The projects you’re most proud of are often the ones with absolutely no clear market. And that’s not a failure—that’s the ultimate signal of authentic craftsmanship.
If a project has an obvious market fit, it’s just a job. If it’s beautifully useless, it’s art.
Stop worrying if your side project is revolutionary. Stop asking if it will scale. Build the weird word game. Write the niche Rust runtime. Make something that only you could make, and let the rest of us recognize the humanity in your code.
FAQ
Q: Doesn't building useless projects waste time you could spend on a real startup?
A: No. 'Useless' projects are where you learn to build without constraints. They are the playground that keeps your skills sharp and your passion alive. A startup pays the bills; a useless project feeds the soul.
Q: How do I apply this to my own work?
A: Stop filtering your ideas through 'will people buy this?' Start asking 'does this idea excite me?' Share the things you built just for you, because that's what people actually want to see.
Q: Is technical skill actually irrelevant then?
A: Technical skill gets you in the door, but it doesn't earn you respect. The market is flooded with competent engineers. What makes you memorable is your taste, and taste is only visible when you build things that don't make logical sense.